This qualitative study used an exploratory phenomenological approach to examine professional school counselors‘ perspectives on the effects of military parental deployment on school aged children and adolescents. The voices of school counselors who work with military connected children are absent from the literature. The research site was a professional counseling conference in Germany in the fall of 2010. Participants consisted of 12 professional school counselors who work with school-aged children and adolescents who have experienced parental military deployment. Participants adopted pseudonyms though several indicated an affiliation with Department of Defense Dependent Schools (DODDS) and therefore offered their unique perspectives as school counselors living in military communities and working almost exclusively with military connected children and families. Data collection consisted of individual interviews with counselor participants. Data analysis consisted of coding meaningful words and phrases and yielded 33 preliminary categories that became new codes. Analysis of relationships between codes resulted in the emergence of four distinct themes: Military Life, Stages of Deployment, Role of the Counselor, and Children and Adolescents. Themes were supported by quotations of meaningful statements, thus participant voices provide thick, rich descriptions of the phenomenon. Validity strategies included peer debriefing, researcher positionality, and multiple examinations of the data set.

Background : Embedded system consists of both hardware and software. Boththese hardware and software development teams must be worked together to complete the project successfully, which requires a lot of communication among theteams. DevOps is an evolution of agile development that bridges communicationgap between teams. Since Embedded systems are not service-based, it isn’t easy toimplement DevOps. So there is a need to study what challenges are currently facedin implementing embedded application development. Objectives: The focus of this thesis was to gather the challenges and mitigationstrategies to overcome these challenges faced during the implementation of DevOpsin Embedded application development, along with mitigation strategies followed toovercome these challenges. Methods: In this thesis, surveys, and interviews were selected as research methods to identify challenges faced while implementing DevOps in embedded systemapplication development and mitigation strategies, and the survey was considered tocollect demographic questions. Results: A survey was conducted to identify embedded developers with experienceimplementing DevOps for Embedded Application Development. Out of 19 surveyresponses, 12 respondents were further interviewed for detailed information. Datacollected from the interviews are analyzed using thematic analysis and narrativeanalysis. Conclusions: From the analysis, the research concludes that continuous testingis the most challenging phase to implement. Continuous testing and continuous integration are the phases that need to be focused on more for the future implementationof DevOps

This thesis addresses the design difficulties encountered when designing deployable origami-based arrays. Specific considerations regarding thickness accommodation, deployment, and parameter modifications are discussed. Patterns such as the Miura-ori, flasher, and hexagon are investigated, with emphasis placed on pattern modification from zero-thickness to finite-thickness. Applying origami principles to form engineering solutions is a complicated task. Competing requirements may create confusion around which pattern is most favorable for the space array application. Implementing origami into a finite-thickness, engineered system poses challenges that are not manifest in a zero-thickness model. As such, it is important to understand and address the limitations of the pattern before implementing it into an engineered system. A preliminary set of approaches to address and mitigate design difficulties is provided. This thesis seeks to improve understanding of design parameters, objectives, and trade offs of origami pattern configurations. Emphasis is placed on finite-thickness models suitable for engineering applications. As a result, engineers and designers should be better prepared to integrate origami principles into space system design.

QUIC is a new secure multiplexed transport protocol built on top of UDP. This general-purpose transport protocol aims to provide the lowest connection latency possible and solve the shortcomings of TCP, UDP, and current problems of the internet. Furthermore, it allows further development of the transport protocol without upgrading the network infrastructure. Last year in May 2021, QUIC was finally standardized by the IETF, allowing for full development and release while also opening the path for future research as older research dated due to using the older version and the finalization of QUIC standard protocol. While there are a lot of different QUIC implementations, this thesis selected two and conducted a performance evaluation on the cloud environment and compared the two while also taking the sustainability aspect into account. Asa result, we will find which of the selected implementation is environmentally friendly through this experiment while also providing good performance. / <p>2022 GENIAL Summer School</p>

This thesis examines and develops a proposed manufacturing system methodology and quality control for the design, planning, scheduling and implementation of the Thermiculite 866 high volume manufacturing line, through the use of Lean Manufacturing, Total Quality Management and Change Management principles. The concept under investigation extends to the analysis of flow production benefits and restrictions considering specific characteristics of the product. A novel factory design methodology is proposed to achieve required production volumes and cost effective implementation. Furthermore, high product quality levels are warranted by developing a Strategic Alignment of Quality Function Deployment which brings commercial awareness to the early stages in the product/process development, and reduces the time to market it whilst promoting long-term solutions. The process and the layout design are supported by a proposed Batch/Flow Comparative Matrix. As a result, the proposed factory design methodologies and management of change introduced in the organization led to a successful production system design as well as controlled implementation according to stakeholders requirements. The design and partial implementation of the Thermiculite 866 production line illustrates the effectiveness of the methodology proposed in this thesis to manage and design the equipment and quality for the future Thermiculite production line. / Technology Strategy Board for the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP)

This research study focuses on solving the deployment planning problem for UAV-BSs using Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithms (MOEAs). The main research objectives encompass gridbased modelling of the target area, investigating evolution parameters, and evaluating algorithm performance in diverse deployment scenarios. Cost, coverage, and interference are considered as objectives along with specific constraints to generate optimal deployment plans. The solution incorporates objective decision support for selecting the best solution among the Pareto front. The research also accounts for parameter initialization and UAV network heterogeneity. Through comprehensive evaluations, the proposed solution demonstrates computational efficiency and the ability to generate satisfactory deployment plans. The study recommends using NonDominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II) for optimal performance. The research also incorporates a fitness approximation technique to reduce computational time while maintaining solution quality. The findings provide valuable insights and recommendations for efficient and balanced deployment planning. However, the research acknowledges limitations and suggests future enhancements. Overall, this research contributes to the field by establishing a foundation for robust and practical deployment plans, guiding future advancements. Future research should focus on addressing identified limitations to enhance applicability and effectiveness in real-world deployment scenarios.

The digitisation of the financial markets has led to IT becoming a vitalpart of financial institutions. The principles and practices of ContinuousDeployment (CD) are utilised to increase innovation through flexibilityand swiftness at many IT companies. This thesis explores the encounterof CD and the financial industry through participant observations andsemi-structured interviews with developers.We find in our study that practitioners in the financial industry usepractices that are part of a CD process. The specialisation of the systemsthat is evident in the industry could be considered a barrier for theadoption of a CD process. However, improved transparency that maycome as a result of CD is well aligned with the demands that are evidentin the industry. Furthermore, the requirement for code reviews mightimpact the ability to attain a continuous process, as it must be a manual.

PURPOSE: Hypertension (HTN) affects one in every three adults in the United States. Often associated with the older population, this silent killer has emerged in an unsuspecting group, young military soldiers. With the rapid succession of multiple deployments, long intervals between blood pressure (BP) assessments, and the absence of cardiovascular (CV) measures during the pre and post deployment health screenings; soldiers may be at higher risk for HTN than their civilian counterparts of the same age. The purpose of this study was to explore real-time continuous CV measures of soldiers before, during, and after exposure to a simulated combat stressor as well as to assess which personal characteristics played a significant role. METHODS: Applying the Allostasis/Allostatic Load theoretical framework, a repeated measure quasi-experimental design was used to compare the CV measures of two groups: one exposed to a physical combat stressor (experimental) and the other exposed to a psychological combat stressor (control). A convenience sample of 60 college Army Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets were fitted with Tiba Medical Ambulo 2400 ambulatory BP monitors for 48 continuous hours. Several CV indices were analyzed using one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), paired t-test, and independent sample t-test. Four instruments (Participant Information Sheet, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Paintball Perceived Stress Questionnaire, and Army Physical Fitness Test) were used to assess which characteristics played the most significant role in the CV response. RESULTS: Demographic characteristics between the two 30-cadet groups were not statistically different, with the exception of deployment history (experimental = 4, control= 0). Hours after the stress exposure, subjects in the experimental group had a higher mean awake systolic blood pressure (SBP) when compared to the control group (113.76 mm Hg vs 102.98 mm Hg, p= 009). When assessing pre and post stressor morning BP surge and evening BP decline, the control group showed the biggest change. Significant bivariate correlations (p > .05) found that: Females consistently had higher pulse rates (PR) throughout each of the phases. Age positively correlated with elevated BP during the stressor, and increased morning BP surge post stressor. African Americans had higher sleep BPs pre stressor, and decreased SBP recovery post stressor; Hispanics had higher PRs during and after the stressor. Waist circumference positively correlated with elevated BP morning surge pre stressor but, body mass index (BMI) positively correlated with elevated BP morning surge post stressor as well as elevated BP during the stressor. Family history of HTN played no significant role; however, deployment history correlated with mean awake SBP post stressor. Trait anxiety scores negatively correlated with SBP recovery while state anxiety scores positively correlated with post stressor awake mean arterial pressure and evening SPB decline. Perceived stress during the stressor negatively correlated with post stressor SBP morning surge with females reporting higher anxiety and stress. Finally, Army Physical Fitness (APFT) total scores as well as APFT run scores negatively correlated with pre and post stressor sleep PRs. DISCUSSION/IMPLICATIONS: Age, female gender, African American descent, Hispanic ethnicity, waist circumference, BMI, previous deployment history, level of fitness and the psychological stress state during and after a stressor played significant roles in soldiers' CV response. SBP was the most dynamic and informative of the CV indices and a psychological stressor was comparable to a physical stressor when observing the residual effect of stress. If a combat exercise was enough of a stressor to produce residual CV effects that lasted well into following morning, the residual effect of a lengthy strenuous deployment may be alarming. This study not only provided a snapshot of the CV health of incoming young soldiers, but also provided evidence to support policy change regarding the implementation of regular CV health assessments before and after deployment.

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